Tag: Gay marriage

The issue of transgender bathroom use has been a divisive topic recently. There’s a wealth of commentary on nearly every side of the issue. There are even some sympathetic, nuanced perspectives that I think are profitable.

I don’t have much to add the primary conversation, but one thing that struck me was the protest from businesses and individuals.

Bruce Springsteen, PayPal, Disney, and others have boycotted or threatened action in response to legislation concerning transgender bathroom use and other LGBT issues.

Not surprisingly, there was a public response to those actions. These businesses and individuals were met with praise and criticism alike. Public policy issues like this draw plenty of commentary, but it’s always a mixed bag. My concern is not with the quantity of commentary, but the quality.

There seems to be some inconsistency in the attacks and affirmations.

The same people that currently praise these businesses criticized others standing up for their convictions. Likewise, the same people that currently criticize these businesses praised others for doing the same.

I immediately thought of the Christian baker controversy of last year. These bakers didn’t want to bake a cake for a homosexual marriage, as motivated by their beliefs.

Generally speaking, social liberals called these bakers bigoted, while social conservatives praised their convictions. The roles seem to have been reversed this time. Social conservatives call PayPal and others bullies, while social liberals applaud their actions.

This is an incredibly hypocritical stance on both sides.

If Christian bakers should have the right to refuse service other businesses should too. Similarly, if the Christian bakers are bigots for refusing service then other businesses are too.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

It’s totally unfair to ostracize one business for acting on its convictions while admiring another for doing the exact same thing. Social liberals and social conservatives are both guilty of this.

I suppose you can argue that only businesses with your beliefs and convictions should be able to boycott or refuse services. That’s a biased position, but you can hold it.

You cannot, however, argue that it is a business’s right to do so. If so, then other businesses you don’t agree with have license to protest as well.

Sometimes we might have to grit our teeth through a protest or boycott, even if we don’t agree with the beliefs behind it. Our beliefs may motivate a boycott or protest in the future.

So should businesses refuse services for their beliefs?

That’s a complicated question that I cannot answer for you. However, regardless of your stance on that question, you should be consistent in your answer.

Christians, I love you. You know that. We’re more than conquerors, we’re redeemed, we’re liberated from the weight of sin.
Christ’s death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection paved the path of salvation for you and me. We’re brothers & sisters and will sing our Savior’s praises throughout all eternity. Amen!

But there are moments when I’m almost ashamed of some of you. This week has been a bad week for level-headed, thoughtful discussion as the controversy over the Confederate flag, passing of Obamacare, and now the ruling on gay marriage have all happened in a few days’ time.

As always, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media has been a hotbed for scholarly wisdom to be bequeathed upon on us simpletons.

Conservatives, liberals, and every other political affiliation came out with guns blazing, bashing the other side over the decision.

A healthy, calm discussion isn’t bad at all, I think it’s vital to sharing and shaping ideas. But as many of you have observed, that type of discussion is the exception, not the norm.

Many claiming to be Christian are being downright hateful. Slinging hurtful words and using dogmatic diction that isolates people, rather than showing them the love of Christ. I’d venture to say that many of these people aren’t actually Christians at all, but just assume the name without experiencing the radical change.

We cannot make Christ’s banner of love into our banner of hate. Calling homosexuality a sin isn’t wrong, it’s outlined as such in both the Old & New Testaments numerous times, but picking fights and cutting others down is.

Sinful homosexuality is just as wrong as sinful heterosexuality, an addiction to pornography, a casual lie, non-biblical divorce, lusting after another, neglecting personal worship, gluttony, greed, pride, and every other sin you can imagine.

Sinful homosexuality is just as wrong as having a hateful heart. How can someone who has experienced grace be so calloused towards others’ sin? Jesus would never have spoken the way some of you are speaking. We are called to bring others home to Christ, but we can’t lead others to the riches of God’s grace when we push them away with hateful hearts.

So, if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all. Your hateful attitude is hindering, not helping.

Alabama’s Gay Marriage Ban was recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. There will be a blizzard of appeals, debate, and people on both sides of the issue embarrassing themselves. But that is not the point of this post.

I have an issue with people comparing the discrimination of homosexuals today to the discrimination of blacks in the 60’s. I’m not speaking on comparisons to interracial marriage, but to the nationwide hate that faced African Americans from this period.
Regardless of how you feel about gay marriage or even homosexuality as a whole, it is absolutely ignorant to compare the two.

True, I could see where homosexuals have been denied something because of their sexuality: a job, promotion, adoption, or any of the many things that never reach headlines. I see that. I can sympathize with that argument to a reasonable extent.

But that pales in comparison to the atrocities faced by the Civil Rights Movement.
To even suggest that homosexuals’ issues are equitable to that of African Americans facing discrimination in pre-Civil Rights Act America is absurd. Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, violence continued on for years.

Especially those in Alabama, you should know better. Our state was the battleground for Civil Rights. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a famous letter from a Birmingham Jail. The Montgomery Bus Boycott started by Rosa Parks took place in our state’s capitol. Martin Luther King also led a massive march from Selma to Birmingham. We have memorials everywhere, reminding us of the past. We are bombarded with it in History class. Our classmates, coworkers, and churches have family that lived it. How could we have forgotten?

Honestly, the comparison angers me. I’m always shocked whenever I hear this argument. Homosexuals have experienced prejudice, no doubt.
Homosexuals have not faced systematic oppression and outright hate like African Americans did in the 60’s.

There are no gay water fountains.

There no restaurants that only serve straights.

There are no signs placing gays below dogs.

There are no police officers beating gays for having a different opinion.

There are no German Shepherds attacking gays at peaceful protests.

There are no fire hoses unleashing 290 pounds per square inch of water on gays.

There are no crosses being burned the yards of gay houses.

And most importantly, there are no lynchings of gays.

I won’t post pictures here, but all you have to do is Google “Black Lynchings” to see these travesties. In many of the earlier pictures (not necessarily 1960’s) you will see children gathered around watching this murder, because it was commonplace.
Blacks were drug behind trucks, torn between horses, lit on fire and hanged regularly. There were churches and schools being bombed. In fact, Birmingham had the nickname of “Bombingham”. The hate led to white civil rights workers being murdered as well.

Violence ran rampant in the Deep South especially, but discrimination and segregation was everywhere. Hundreds of years of tensions were reaching a boiling point. I pray our country never sees discrimination on such a scale ever again.

This was one of the lowest points in the history of the United States. There was so much wrong being perpetrated on a daily basis. Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan separated blacks and presented them as subhuman. Black life was far from sacred, it was often despised.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not think every person that is for gay marriage compares the two. I actually think it is a relative minority, but they are a loud minority. It only takes one person to made this ignorant statement. I also don’t want you to think I’m minimizing the battles homosexuals are facing. I am not. Homosexuals often face hate rather than understanding. I understand their resentment and feelings of discrimination. I honestly do. But.

It amazes me that people can think these two situations are comparable. They most definitely are not. Conversations on gay marriage should happen. Comparisons to the Civil Rights Era should not.

What are your thoughts? Have you heard anyone use this comparison before?

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